The strangest of saints

            The strangest of saints,
            The simplest of souls,
            The saddest of all the earth’s rejected,
            Are chosen to be the people in whose lives
            The goodness of God can be detected.

Peter, the Rock, whose faith was often talk;

Thomas who sometimes doubted;

Martha who fussed, lest Jesus noticed dust,

And Paul, by whom Christians once were routed.

            The strangest of saints.....

Names none can tell: a woman at the well,
Widows and someone’s mother;
Men blind from birth, street children full of mirth,
Ten lepers, each worse than every other.

            The strangest of saints.....

Babes at the knee, a taxman in a tree;
Women by men molested;
Some who were bright and some who feared daylight,
And many the privileged few detested.

            The strangest of saints.....

Time can’t diffuse the freshness of the news:
Christ’s friends are fully human;
Failure and fear allow him to come near
And understand every man and woman.
            The strangest of saints.....

Who dare deride those found at Jesus’ side,
Welcome despite their weakness?
Christ who knows all, expresses by his call
The wonder of everyone’s uniqueness.
            The strangest of saints.....

©1987  WGRG, Iona Community, Govan, Glasgow G51 3UU, Scotland

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